HOBBS, NM---The University of the Southwest Baseball Program may not have ended the season at the Conference Tournament in Monroe, Louisiana like they had hoped, but the program had an extremely successful season as they broke 28 team or individual records on their way to the first 30-win season in school history since 2004. The 30-23 record in 2019 was once again another improvement for the program under Head Coach
Steve Appel. Since Appel took the reigns of the program in 2015, the Mustangs have increased their win total each and every season and reached the conference tournament in 2017 & 2018. "Getting to 30 wins is a goal we have set since Day 1" said Head Coach
Steve Appel. " It has taken a couple of years but we have finally gotten there. We have to build in other areas to reach our ultimate goal, but we also understand these are the small goals we need to get to in order to fully reach what we are capable of. It goes under the same quote as "you need to be able to crawl before you can walk". Again each kid comes to this program with a vision that we provide and hopefully they buy in. In the great spectrum of things, this program has made great strides, and it has been done by the players. We will continue to recruit the needs we have for next season and will continue to enhance our program. With continuing to get the right kids here at USW, we will continue to build this program one brick at a time. We certainly aren't dont yet!"
TEAM RECORDS 2019
- 3rd---Wins in a season---30
- 3rd---Winning %---.566
- 2nd---Consecutive Wins---10
- 3rd---Consecutive Wins---9
PITCHING
The 2019 season saw one of the most dominating pitching staffs that the University has seen since the turn of the millennium. The pitching staff set 11 school records along the way and pushed this program to 30 wins. The Mustangs were led on the mound by their 3-headed monster of starting pitchers
JJ Kruzel (SO),
Marvin Galarza (SR) and
Alex Goodman (SR). To go along with their great starting pitching the Mustangs also received critical help from relievers Iganacio Elizalde (SR),
Axel Arrieta (SR),
Ezra Acosta (FR) and
David Flores (SR). This pitching staff set a school record with a 4.47 ERA which is 1.26 runs lower than the mark set by last year's team. The staff also set records for WHIP, which is walks+hits divided by innings pitching, with a 1.42. This staff also allowed the least amount of runs per game in a season with 4.73 per game. Strikeouts were a major key to the staff's success as they struck out a school record 361 batters along the while. These numbers are much more impressive considering this year's team pitched the most innings in school history by throwing 398.1 innings and still were able to set 11 school records along the way.
- 1st---ERA---4.47
- 1st---WHIP---1.42
- 1st---Fewest Runs/Game---4.73
- 1st---Saves---12
- 1st---Innings Pitched---398.1
- 1st---Complete Game Shutout---3
- 1st---Strikeouts---361
- 1st---Strikeouts/Game---6.94
- 1st---Strikeouts/Inning---.907
- 1st---Fewest Double Allowed---60
- 1st---Fewest Hits/Game---7.9
- 2nd---Fewest Walks/Game---2.92
- 2nd---Fewest Walks/Inning---.381
- 4th---Fewest Walks---152
- 4th---Most K in Game---15 (twice)
HITTING
The Mustang offense was not as explosive as they had thought coming into the season, but they still managed to join forces with the pitching staff and win 30 games thanks in large part to a few newcomers and some seasoned seniors in the lineup. The additions of newcomers
Brian Rodriguez,
Bobby Galindo and
Tariq Levesque helped give the offense a jolt down the final stretch of the season and brought them to within a few games of a tournament appearance. Seniors
Ben Tingen,
Micah Tambur and
PJ Sanchez finished out their careers on high-notes as all three have cemented themselves into the Mustang Baseball Record Books. The offense this season set 4 new school records including most doubles in a season as they finished with 96. The Mustang hitters had the best plate discipline in school history as they drew 215 total walks this year which is 49 more than the previous record which was set last season. Even with their high amount of walks, the hitters also broke the record for most at-bats in a season with 1559 and at-bats in a game with 58 on April 17th against Sul Ross.
- 1st---Walks---215
- 1st---At-Bats---1559
- 1st---AB in a Game---58---4/17/19 Sul Ross State
- 1st---Doubles---96
- 3rd---Home Runs in Game---3---4/17/19 Sul Ross State
- 5th---RBI---233
- 5th---Runs---269
FIELDING
- 1st---Double Plays---35
- 1st---Total Chances---1725
- 1st---Putouts---1195
- 2nd---Caught Stealing---24
- 2nd---Double Plays in Game---3---4/17/19
- 3rd---Assists---437
- 3rd---Fielding Percentage---.946
SINGLE-SEASON RECORDS
The Mustangs broke 3 single-season records this season as
Bobby Galindo broke the record for walks in a season with 26.
David Flores smashed the single-season saves record with 11 saves. The previous record was 5 held by Clinton Graham in 2012. The 11 saves for Flores put him 2nd in the entire country in saves. Lastly Iganacio "Nacho" Elizalde broke the ERA record with an outstanding 2.12 earned run average over 34 innings. Nacho went 11.1 innings without allowing a run from March 7th until April 6th.
CAREER RECORDS
The 8 graduating Seniors from the 2019 season have left their mark on the program and paved the way for the future Mustangs. The Mustangs broke 8 career records this year including 1 from a current Mustang.
Ben Tingen set the career games played mark on Senior Day as he suited up in his 157th game for USW. Tingen has left his mark on the program as he is top-10 in 6 separate offensive categories including: Hits, Runs, Walks, Stolen Bases, At-Bats and Games Played. The other 7 school records came from the Mustang pitching staff. Rising Junior
JJ Kruzel broke the career wins records this season as he earned his 13th career win for USW on April 26th against Texarkana.
Alex Goodman is one of the senior pitchers who is going to walk out of USW as one of the most accomplished pitchers in school history. Goodman holds the USW record for Complete Games (14), Shutouts (5) and Strikeouts (157). El Paso natives
Axel Arrieta and
David Flores will also leave USW with school records to their name as Arrieta holds the school record for career ERA (200 IP min.) with a 3.74. Flores now holds the USW record for career saves with 11 which he earned all in 2019.
Career Hitting Records
Career Pitching Records
RRAC ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
The Mustangs had two student-athletes named to the Red River All-Conference Teams as
David Flores (SR) was named 2nd-Team All-Conference Relief Pitcher and
Brian Rodriguez (SO) was named to the Gold Glove Team in the outfield. Both student-athletes are from El Paso, TX and had strong seasons to help push the Mustangs to 30 wins. Flores led the conference in saves with 4 saves in conference and 11 total on the season. Flores' 11 saves put him #2 in the country for total saves on the season. The Senior appeared in 17 games, throwing 18.1 innings and had an ERA of 3.93. Flores only allowed 13 hits all season and struck out 18 hitters along the way.
Rodriguez was one of three Gold Glove selections in the outfield. The Sophomore transfer from EPCC did not have an error all season as he played all three outfield spots throughout the season. Rodriguez also led the Mustangs in hitting with a .355 batting average and .434 on-base percentage. Rodriguez logged 50 hits on the season which included 10 doubles and drove home 24 runners. Rodriguez also stole 6 bases and drew 17 walks.
